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Kraken
The Kraken, '''scientifically known as Polypus titanica''', is a naturally occurring magical species that lives in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a very rare species and is a distant relative to the Colossal Squid and the Giant Squid. It is notable for its extreme, legendary size and extreme strength, which has resulted in it having virtually no natural predators and occasionally attempting to attack ships, especially submarines that venture near and deep enough to its dwellings. History The earliest known but unconfirmed sighting was in the 13th century, where ancient old Icelandic texts made reference to the sighting of two massive sea monsters near the Greenland Sea. Throughout the Age of Sail, reported sightings of the Kraken continued with many instances of ships disappearing on Atlantic trade routes that passed through the northern areas of the ocean. However many of these sightings were dismissed as overactive imaginations or due to drunkenness. In 1910, a member of the Kraken species was photographed for the first time off the coast of Norway, and was proven to be very much real and not a hoax. It was at this time that scientific expeditions began in an attempt to study the creature further, and successful missions from 1912 to 1914 captured several photographs and even a fragment of a tentacle from an incident where it attempted to attack a research vessel and was harpooned and cut. It was observed that the vessel had actively been pursuing the giant creature, causing it to eventually turn around and attack out of frustration, resulting in the ensuing scuffle. Several things were observed from this encounter. Firstly, the Kraken tended to avoid prop-driven vessels as the vibration of the engines and cavitation from the propellers bothered them, and would typically not attack, though rarely attacks may happen out of desperation or illness. The Kraken was also generally intelligent enough to not attempt attacking modern vessels, due to the risk of its tentacles getting caught in propellers and not being strong enough to destroy the metal hulls, and risk injuring itself. Secondly, there were apparently multiple individuals of an unknown number, debunking some previous beliefs that there was only a single legendary creature. Photographs from the Northern Atlantic Kraken Expedition show multiple different individuals with different skin coloration and patterns, and different scarring from encounters with Human ships. By 2029, many militaries and shipping companies have installed anti-Kraken defense grids on their ships, not willing to even risk damage to their expensive equipment and cargo in the unlikely event of a modern Kraken attack. Characteristics The Kraken is a massive creature, generally spanning hundreds of meters long. Despite not being observed as sentient, it is remarkably intelligent like many other shelless mollusks. It is believed that the Kraken's immense size and power comes from Red Matter within its biology, allowing for extreme and otherwise ridiculous sizes. * The Kraken possesses two massive tentacles and several arms, which it uses to attach to and kill whales. They have suckers on them, allowing them to latch onto the bodies of whales or the hulls of ships. * Like its smaller squid cousins it is an invertebrate, has a mantle, but it has several siphons for water jet propulsion instead of one, and instead of a beak it possesses a muscular circular mouth with numerous rings of teeth, which it uses to bite into the flesh of whales, tear and eat through their blubber. Category:Magical creature